A soldier glances around before stooping down in the woods and digging. He carefully sets his valuables into the dirt hole and covers them up. Methodically, he memorizes the location by a nearby landmark.
Or perhaps the scene looked a little different.
A frazzled merchant hurries into the forest and drops to his knees. Flinching at every sound, he buries his treasures as quickly as possible. Jumping to his feet, he casts one last glance at the disturbed ground and runs.
Either way, one thing is certain. Whoever buried their treasure never returned.
A volunteer went for a hike through the newly cleared part of a forest in Livorno, Italy, in November 2021. Walking down the slope, they noticed a shiny glint among the leaves, according to an April 14 news release from the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Pisa and Livorno shared by the Livornese Paleontological Archaeological Group.
2,600-year-old stone busts of ‘lost’ ancient Tartessos people discovered in sealed pit in Spain
Looking closer, the hiker realized they’d stumbled upon some ancient-looking coins. Local archaeological authorities were called to investigate.
Read more: Miami Herald
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